Human Trafficking for Commercial Sex: Michigan Law and Protections for Victims

Michigan's human trafficking law is chapter LXVIIA of the Penal Code, MCL 750.462a through 750.462h. For a minor, it is a felony to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide or obtain the minor for commercial sexual activity "by any means"; no force, fraud or coercion is written into that subdivision.^[2][3] The other sections apply to an individual of any age: they prohibit recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing or obtaining an individual for forced labor or services, meaning labor or services, which expressly include commercial sexual activity, obtained or maintained by force, fraud or coercion, or for debt bondage.^[4][5]

If you need help now. In immediate danger, call 911.^[1] The National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888; it is answered live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in more than 200 languages, and calls are confidential.^[1] The Michigan Department of Attorney General lists the same number and text 233733.^[10] Michigan's VOICES4 hotline is free, confidential and anonymous, with advocates available 24/7 by call or text at 855-864-2374 for anyone affected by sexual assault, domestic violence or human trafficking.^[11] You do not need to be sure that what is happening meets a legal definition before you call.

This page explains what the statutes cover, the penalties, and the provisions that protect victims in court and afterward. It is written for survivors, families and anyone trying to understand a charge.

What counts as human trafficking under Michigan law?

The chapter contains four prohibitions.^[4]

Section	What it prohibits
MCL 750.462b	Knowingly recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing or obtaining an individual for forced labor or services[4]
MCL 750.462c	Doing so for the purpose of holding the individual in debt bondage[12]
MCL 750.462d	Doing so by any means knowing the individual will be subjected to forced labor or services or debt bondage; or knowingly benefiting financially from participation in an enterprise that has engaged in an act the chapter prohibits[12]
MCL 750.462e	Recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing or obtaining by any means a minor for commercial sexual activity, or for forced labor or services, regardless of whether the person knows the minor's age[12]

Three definitions connect these sections to commercial sex:

• Forced labor or services means labor or services obtained or maintained by force, fraud, or coercion.^[5]
• Services expressly includes commercial sexual activity and sexually explicit performances.^[5]
• Commercial sexual activity means an act of sexual penetration or sexual contact, any conduct prohibited under the child sexually abusive material statute, or any sexually explicit performance, for which anything of value is given or received by any person.^[5]

Minors: no proof of force is written into the statute

A "minor" in this chapter is an individual under 18 years of age.^[2] MCL 750.462e(a) prohibits recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing or obtaining a minor for commercial sexual activity "by any means," and it applies "regardless of whether the person knows the age of the minor."^[2] The words force, fraud and coercion do not appear in that subdivision.^[2]

The text of that subdivision therefore does not require physical force or confinement where the person is a minor.^[2] "Commercial sexual activity" is also defined to include conduct prohibited by the child sexually abusive material statute and sexually explicit performances, where anything of value is given or received by any person.^[5]

Anyone who suspects a child is being abused or neglected can report to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services at 855-444-3911 at any time.^[13] See also mandated reporters of child abuse.

What "force, fraud, or coercion" means

The statute defines each word, and each definition begins "includes, but is not limited to."^[6]

• Force includes physical violence or the threat of it, and actual or threatened physical restraint or confinement, without regard to whether injury occurs.^[6]
• Fraud includes a false or deceptive offer of employment or marriage.^[6]
• Coercion includes threatening to harm or physically restrain any individual, or creating a scheme, plan or pattern intended to make a person believe that failing to perform an act would result in psychological, reputational or financial harm to, or physical restraint of, any individual.^[6]
• Coercion also includes abusing or threatening abuse of the legal system, including threats of arrest or deportation, whether or not the person threatened is actually subject to arrest or deportation.^[6]
• It includes knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating or possessing a person's passport, immigration document or government identification document.^[6]
• It includes facilitating or controlling a person's access to a controlled substance other than for a legitimate medical purpose.^[14]

Debt bondage is separately defined. It includes a debt secured by a pledge of the debtor's personal services where the value of those services is not applied toward paying off the debt, or where the length and nature of the services are not specifically limited and defined.^[6]

What are the penalties?

Offense	Maximum penalty
Trafficking a minor (MCL 750.462e)	20 years, a fine of $20,000, or both[3]
Violations of MCL 750.462b, 462c or 462d, base level	10 years, a fine of $10,000, or both[15]
Violation results in bodily injury or in an individual being engaged in commercial sexual activity	15 years, a fine of $15,000, or both[15]
Violation results in serious bodily injury	20 years, a fine of $20,000, or both[15]
Violation involves kidnapping or attempted kidnapping, first-degree criminal sexual conduct or an attempt, an attempt to kill, or death	Life or any term of years, a fine of $50,000, or both[15]

All of these offenses are felonies.^[3][15] A person who attempts, conspires, or solicits another to violate the chapter is subject to the same penalty as a person who commits the violation.^[16] The court may order a trafficking sentence to be served consecutively to a sentence for any other crime, including one arising from the same transaction, and other charges from the same transaction are not barred.^[16]

Trafficking a minor for commercial sexual activity under MCL 750.462e(a) is a Tier II offense under the Sex Offenders Registration Act.^[17] A conviction under the trafficking chapter cannot be set aside.^[18]

Protections for victims in a trafficking prosecution

The chapter contains several rules about how the victim is treated as a witness.

• Testimony is not required. The testimony of a victim is not required in a prosecution under the chapter.^[7]
• No corroboration. If a victim testifies, that testimony need not be corroborated.^[7]
• Resistance is not the issue. The victim's resistance or lack of resistance to the actor is not relevant.^[7]
• Expert testimony. Expert testimony about the behavioral patterns of trafficking victims, and how a victim's behavior may differ from what people expect, is admissible if it otherwise meets the rules of evidence.^[19]
• Protection for truthful testimony. Under the section as amended effective April 2, 2025, a victim or complainant may not be excused from testifying on the ground that the testimony may be self-incriminating; in exchange, truthful testimony and information derived from it must not be used against the victim in a criminal case, except for impeachment or in a prosecution for perjury or for failing to testify or produce evidence as required.^[7]

Victims also have the general rights of crime victims in Michigan, described in rights of sexual assault survivors and what to expect as a witness.

If a victim has been charged with or convicted of a prostitution offense

Michigan law addresses the position of a trafficking victim charged with a prostitution offense in three ways.

1. Minors are presumed to have been coerced

In any prosecution of a person under 18 for a prostitution offense punishable under MCL 750.451, it is presumed that the minor was coerced by another person engaged in human trafficking. The prosecution may overcome the presumption by proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the minor was not forced or coerced, and a minor who fails to substantially comply with court-ordered services is not eligible for the presumption.^[20] A police officer who encounters a minor in that situation must immediately report suspected trafficking to the Department of Health and Human Services, which must begin investigating within 24 hours.^[21]

2. Deferral and dismissal

If a person of any age pleads guilty to or is found guilty of violating MCL 750.448, 750.449, 750.450 or 750.462 as a direct result of being a trafficking victim, the court may, with the consent of the accused and the prosecuting attorney, defer the case without entering a judgment of guilt and place the person on probation.^[8] The person must prove victim status by a preponderance of the evidence and state it under oath. When the terms are fulfilled, the court discharges the person and dismisses the proceedings, and that is not a conviction.^[8]

3. Setting aside a past conviction

A person convicted under MCL 750.448, 750.449 or 750.450, or a corresponding local ordinance, may apply to have the conviction set aside if the offense was committed as a direct result of being a victim of a human trafficking violation.^[9] The application may be filed at any time following the conviction and may cover more than one conviction.^[22] The applicant must prove the connection by a preponderance of the evidence, and the decision is the court's: a set-aside is a privilege, not a right.^[22]

These provisions have limits. The set-aside subsection lists only those three sections, and neither it nor the deferral statute lists MCL 750.449a.^[9][8] The details are in prostitution and solicitation laws and expunging a sex offense conviction.

Money: restitution, civil damages and medical assistance

Restitution. In addition to the restitution that is mandatory in criminal cases, the sentencing court may order a person convicted of trafficking to pay restitution to the victim under a provision specific to trafficking.^[16] The benchbook describes that provision as covering the victim's lost income, transportation, temporary housing and childcare expenses incurred because of the offense, attorney fees and other listed costs, and any other loss suffered as a proximate result of the offense.^[23]

Civil damages. Under the Human Trafficking Victims Compensation Act, a person who commits a trafficking offense is liable to the victim for economic and noneconomic damages, whether or not the violator was charged or convicted.^[24][23] The action must be filed within 3 years after the last violation that is the subject of the action.^[24] Civil cases generally are explained in civil lawsuits for sexual assault.

Medical assistance. The benchbook cites a statute under which a victim of a human trafficking violation may receive medical assistance benefits for medical and psychological treatment resulting from that status.^[23] The state's separate compensation program is covered in crime victim compensation.

How long can charges be brought, and can the case be federal?

A trafficking offense punishable by life imprisonment may be charged at any time; other violations of MCL 750.462b through 750.462e may be charged within 25 years after the offense, under a provision known as Theresa Flores's Law.^[25]

Federal law has its own sex trafficking statute, 18 USC 1591, with mandatory minimum prison terms of 15 years or 10 years depending on the circumstances and a maximum of life.^[26] It is described in the overview of federal sex crimes.

What people get wrong

"It is only trafficking if someone is locked up or beaten." For minors no force is required by the text.^[2] Coercion is defined to include a scheme intended to make a person fear psychological, reputational or financial harm, threats of arrest or deportation, taking identity documents, and controlling access to drugs.^[6][14]

"The case depends on the victim testifying." The statute says a victim's testimony is not required.^[7]

"The presumption for minors is in MCL 750.451c." It is in MCL 750.451(6); section 451c is the deferral statute.^[20][8]

Local advocacy and medical resources are listed in where to get help in West Michigan.